An active vitamin D3 derivative has calcium absorption-stimulating activity in the small intestine, and activities such as the control of bone resorption and osteogenesis in the bones, and it is used as a treating agent for diseases caused by various kinds of calcium metabolism disorders. In recent years, immunoregulatory activity, cell proliferation inhibitory activity and cell differentiation inducting activity have been found besides these activities. For example, applications to a treating agent for malignant tumor (JP-A 57-149224 (hereinafter, JP-A means Japanese unexamined patent publication)), a treating agent for rheumatoid arthritis (JP-A 56-26820), an antiallergic agent (JP-A 63-107928, English Patent Publication No. 2260904 (GB 2260904-A)), a treating agent for psoriasis (JP-A 3-68009), a treating agent for diseases attributable to thromboxane A2 production (JP-A 5-294834), a treating agent for eczema and dermatitis (JP-A. 7-291868), etc., are being studied.
Respiratory tract infection is a disease which is established when pathogens invade into the respiratory tract by getting over its infection preventing mechanisms, and the treatment is mainly based on the improvement of respiratory tract clearance by using a bronchodilator, an expectorant, etc. But, in the case of acute exacerbation with infection, the main treatment is the use of a strong antibacterial agent against phlogogenic bacteria. However, most underlying diseases constantly becomes worse when acute exacerbation is repeated. Further, current treatments, which depend on antibacterial agents in the extreme, are under reconsideration owing to the emergence of resistant bacteria such as MRSA.
Recently, the usefulness of a low-dose long administration of erythromycin for a chronic lower airway infectious disease has been reported, and it attracts medical attention. A chronic lower respiratory infectious disease is a generic name for bacterial infections observed in chronic bronchitis, diffuse panbronchiolitis, bronchiectasis, etc., (sometimes, it includes bronchial asthma, chronic pulmonary emphysema, tuberculosis sequela, etc., accompanied by infection). Although these are different in the name of disease, it is known that all of the diseases take common morbid states such as purulent sputum in large amount, fatigue dyspnea and hypoxemia. Regarding the working mechanism of erythromycin, it is estimated that erythromycin's function does not based simply on its antibacterial activity, namely, erythromycin acts not on bacteria themselves, and it is understood that erythromycin acts rather on inflammatory cells which accumulate on the airway accompanying the bacteria, especially acts on neutrophils. That is, neutrophils are considered to infiltrate into tissues by the various kinds of stimulation caused by the infection to release protease as well as activated oxygen, and these substances cause epithelium damage, the trouble of ciliary movement and mucosa hypersecretion to exert a bad influence upon respiratory physiological effect, and erythromycin acts on these processes. Based on such consideration, a medicine, which suppresses the pulmonary tissue infiltration of neutrophils or suppresses the activity of neutrophils, can be useful as a treating agent for inflammatory dyspnea, for example, chronic lower airway infectious disease.
On the other hand, when the control of vitamin D production becomes abnormal due to diseases, etc. and the intracorporeal concentration increases to express physiological effect excessively, various diseases attributable to the excess of the vitamin D are developed. For example, it is known that, in sarcoidosis, vitamin D is excessively produce by a tumorigenic macrophage-like cell (J. Clinical Invest., 64, 218-225 (1979)), and as a result, hypercalcemia is developed. For the treatment of the disease, a glucocorticoid is mainly used, but the long term administration of a large amount of the glucocorticoid causes adverse reaction. On the other hand, vitamin D is known to exhibit its physiological effect via intracellular vitamin D receptors, and thereby a vitamin D3 antagonist, which is specific to the expression of effect via receptor, is supposed to be effective in order to suppress the excessively developed vitamin D activity.
Incidentally, an active vitamin D3 controls the amount of production of parathyroid hormone (henceforth, this may be referred to as PTH) in a living body, and the amount of production of PTH is lowered by the increase of the production of the active vitamin D3. Thereby, it is thought that the use of a vitamin D3 antagonist corrects the decrease of PTH production attributable to the increase of active vitamin D3 production, and further can accelerate the production of PTH. It is known that various diseases are caused by the decrease of PTH production, and one of the examples is hypoparathyroidism. The administration of PTH is considered to be ideal for the treatment of the disease; however, an orally administrable PTH preparation has not been developed yet. On the other hand, a vitamin D3 antagonist is orally administrable, and thereby, the antagonist is supposed to be useful as an ideal treating agent for hypoparathyroidism.
Further, there are reports that PTH has effects on the growth and the differentiation of a cartilage cell, and the biosynthesis of cartilaginous matrix (Cellular and Calcium, 16, 112-122 (1994), and Calcified Tissue International, 50, 61-66 (1992)), on an osteoblast growth stimulating activity (Endocrinology, 118, 2445-2449 (1986)), on a collagen biosynthesis stimulating activity (J. Clin. Invest., 83, 60-65 (1989)) and the like. These reports show that PTH can become effective treating agents for metabolic disorder of cartilage and metabolic disorder of bone, and actually, a clinical investigation on osteogenesis is progressing by using an intramuscular injection preparation. However, an intramuscular injection preparation has such problems that the half life is short, and that hyperostosis, which is supposedly related to a transient increase in the intracorporeal concentration of PTH, is caused. On the other hand, a vitamin D3 antagonist is orally administrable, and thereby it is supposed that the antagonist can solve these problems, and can be useful as an ideal treating agent for metabolic disorder of cartilage and that of bone.
Prior arts of the compound of the present invention are shown below.
The International Patent Publication WO95/33716 shows that compounds having an α-methyl lactone structure or an α-methylene lactone structure as the side chain of vitamin D3 have an osteogenesis stimulation activity. However, the compounds disclosed by the present invention do not include the above-mentioned compounds, and further there is no description nor suggestion regarding that the compounds described in the publication have a neutrophilic infiltration suppressing activity or an antagonistic effect to vitamin D3.
U.S. Patent Publication, U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,872 describes the method for the production of compounds having an α-hydroxy lactone structure or an α-hydroxy-α-alkyl lactone structure as the side chain of vitamin D3; however, the compounds disclosed by the present invention do not include the above-mentioned compounds, and further there is no description nor suggestion regarding that the compounds described in the above-mentioned publication have a neutrophilic infiltration suppressing activity or an antagonistic effect to vitamin D3.
J. Org. Chem., 48, 4433-4436 (1983), U.S. Patent Publication, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,257 and the like describe compounds having an α-hydroxy-α-methyl lactone structure as the side chain of vitamin D3, and the publication suggests an application as a treating agent for hypercalcemia, cancer, osteoporosis and the like. However, the compounds disclosed by the present invention do not include the above-mentioned compounds, and further there is neither description nor suggestion regarding that the compounds described in the above-mentioned literature and publication have a neutrophilic infiltration suppressing activity or an antagonistic effect to vitamin D3.
International Patent Publication WO95/33716 describes that compounds having a carboxyl group or an ester group as a substituent at the 25-position of the side chain of vitamin D3 have an osteogenesis stimulation activity. However, these compounds are clearly different from the compounds of the present invention having an amide group, an alkylcarbonyl group or a hydroxyalkyl group as a substituent at the 25-position of the side chain of vitamin D3, and further there is no description nor suggestion regarding that the compounds described in the publication have a neutrophilic infiltration suppressing activity or an antagonistic effect to vitamin D3.
International Patent Publication WO94/07853 describes that compounds having a carboxyl group, an ester group, an amide group, a thioester group or a cyano group as a substituent at the 25-position of vitamin D3 have a cell differentiation inducting activity. However, the compounds disclosed by the publication have such a carboxyl group, an ester group, an amide group, a thioester group or a cyano group, and at the same time, a carbonyl group, a chlorine atom, a fluorine atom, a trifluoromethyl group or an alkyl group as the substituents at the 25-position of vitamin D3, and they have a hydroxyl group or an alkoxy group at the 24-position, and further the bonding between the 22-position and the 23-position is a double bond. The compounds of the present invention have an amide group, an alkylcarbonyl group or a hydroxyalkyl group, and at the same time, a hydroxy group as the substituents at the 25-position, and the 24-position has no substituent, and the bonding between the 22-position and the 23-position is a single bond, and they are clearly different from the compounds described in the publication. Further, there is no description nor suggestion regarding that the compounds described in the publication have a neutrophilic infiltration suppressing activity or an antagonistic effect to vitamin D3.